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y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES B. HITCHCOCK, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

TOE-WEIGHT'.

SPECIFICATION formingl part of Letters Patent No. 288,636, dated November 20, 1883.

` Application ledApril 21, 1883. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. HITCH- 000K, a resident of Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Toe-Weights for Horses, of which the following is a specication, having reference to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates tol that class of toeweights for horses which are removably attached to a horseshoe by means of a detachable spur.

Y The objects of my invention are to secure the weight to the spur and the spur to the shoe at the same time and by the same operation, and by such means that but slight cutting of the hoof is required, and the weight and spur are wholly retained and supported by the shoe independently ofthe horses hoof. My invention consists in a dovetail-shaped `mortise passing diagonally downward fand backward through the toe of a horseshoe, and a correspon ding dovetail-shaped spur adapted to be inserted at the narrow side of and through said mortise, to. receive, support, and

hold-a toe-weight, and to be expanded within the mortise in the shoe, soas to't closely against the sides thereof by the same means which holds the toe-weight in position, all as hereinafter fully shown and described.

` The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

vFigure 1 is a vertical section. Fig. 2 is a plan of a shoe mortised to receive my spur and weight. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the spur. plan, of the same.

Like letters refer to the same parts in all figures.

Through the toe of an ordinary horseshoe an oblong mortise, a, is made, as near as practicable to the front edge of the shoe. Said mortise extends downward and backward through the shoe, and is of dovetail form, the widest portion being below. rIhe spur is formed of two similar parts, b and c, bent to form nearly a right angle and hinged together at one end, as shown. The free ends of b and c are shaped to form together a dovetail tenon, d, the wide portion of which is capable of passing through the narrow portion of mortise a when b and c are close together. The

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, and Fig. 5 a` upper portions of b and c fit loosely in a vertical mortise, e, in the toe-weight f. A screw, g, is screwed into and through the front part of the weight in such a position that its conical point enters a hole or recess, h, formed between pieces b and c of the spur, at a short distance below their hinge-joint? thus eo'niining the weight to the spur, and also forcing b and c apart.

The application of my weight is as follows: The dovetail tenon of the spur is inserted from above into the mortise a in the shoe, parts b and c being closed together. VThe mortise e of weightf is now slipped down over the upper part of the spur until the recess h is opposite the screw g'. Screw gis now turned in, its conical point entering the recess h, forcing parts b and c apart from the hinge downward until the dovetail tenon of the spur fills tightly the mortise in the shoe. The Weight is thus firmly held to the spur by the screw, and the spur cannot be withdrawn from the shoe till the screw is removed.

` I claim as my inventionl. The combination, substantially as shown and described, of a horseshoe having a dovetail-shaped mortise therein, as shown and de scribed, a spur having a dovetail-shaped tenon adapted to be inserted in and expanded to till said mortise, means for expanding said tenon, and means for securing a toeweight to said spur.

2l The combination, with a horseshoe having a dovetailshaped mortise therein, substantially as shown and described, of an eX- pansible spur consisting of two parts hinged together and forming a toe-weight support and a dovetail-shaped tenon, means for eX- panding said spur within the said mortise, and means for securing a toe-weight to said spur.

3. A horseshoe having a dovetail-shaped mortise, as shown and described, an expansible spur having a dovetail shaped tenon adapted to fit said mortise, a toe-weight, and a screw having a conical point, all combined substantially as shown and described.

CHARLES B. HITCHCOCKL Witnesses:

O. V. HUGO, H. I. Hoon. 

